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Guidance on hard pruning a flowering cherry

sunshinerythymPKMb5l4HsunshinerythymPKMb5l4H Posts: 3
in Problem solving
I have in my small garden a flowering cherry, it was bought several years ago as a fatigiate type but was obviously wrongly labelled! Now it is dominating the area it’s in making it difficult to navigate the garden and I need to bring it under control, any advice will be gratefully received.

Posts

  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    Cherry are liable to get a disease called silver leaf so if you are pruning them avoid doing so when conditions are wet. Summer is usually recommended as a better time for pruning cherry and stone fruit for this reason.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Pruning should be done in July/August preferably. In my experience cherry trees don't much like being pruned, the occasional smallish branch is okay but don't do as we did and just cut the tops off to stop it growing so high. It retaliates with lots of what are  known as water  shoots i.e. straight slender stems that spoil the look of the tree.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    Wrong plant in the wrong place - take it out and replace it with something you want. This might sound like drastic measures but you will need to "control" it every year otherwise and you are just making work for yourself.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    That was our thinking @steephill, a previous owner had planted 12, each a foot apart in front of a retaining wall - not a good idea. We just have 3 left and they are coming out soon.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • sunshinerythymPKMb5l4HsunshinerythymPKMb5l4H Posts: 3
    Oh my lord I’m traumatised 🤪idea of taking it out completely! I can see the point though, I’m kicking myself for leaving it so long to tackle but.....what to do with the wood, my garden is only accessible through the house, so maybe I’ll give it the prune it needs and if it all goes wrong, I’ll use it as a prop for some climbers.  Thanks for all the helpful replies 
  • sunshinerythymPKMb5l4HsunshinerythymPKMb5l4H Posts: 3
    Lizzie27 said:
    Pruning should be done in July/August preferably. In my experience cherry trees don't much like being pruned, the occasional smallish branch is okay but don't do as we did and just cut the tops off to stop it growing so high. It retaliates with lots of what are  known as water  shoots i.e. straight slender stems that spoil the look of the tree.
    So any advice on how do I avoid these water shoots happening? Chers
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